Five candidates, including an incumbent, are hoping to fill two seats on the Brentwood City Council next month.

Vice Mayor Joel R. Bryant will face off against John D. Fink, Michael Jones, Johnny Rodriguez and Olga Vidriales. Incumbent Bailey Grewal, who was appointed in 2017, did not file for re-election.

Bryant, senior pastor of Family Life Center of Brentwood, was first elected to the City Council in 2010 and has served on the East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservancy and East Contra Costa Fire Protection Services boards. His top priorities are public safety, creating infrastructure to attract high-paying jobs and maintaining the city’s small-town atmosphere.

Bryant said he has worked to keep the police department fully staffed and families safe from the type of crime seen in neighboring communities. The city has hired more police officers and created its own 911 dispatch during his tenure for faster emergency response, he said.

Bryant said he does not support extending the urban limit line, noting the current build-out number is 80,000.

“There may be a time in the future where that is more viable, but currently the infrastructure would not sustain a major influx of new housing,” he said. “We have already had difficulties with transportation issues …. and so we are going to have to address the mobility issues, the transportation issues first.”

Bryant said the general plan not only protects the urban limit line but also defends the city’s agricultural core. A priority for him is to focus on bringing high-quality corporate, tech and medical industries to the area while “limiting housing to responsible future growth.”

Fink, a planning commissioner since 2010 and police department volunteer since 2006, has worked in banking, real estate and property management.

Fink has volunteered with the Harvest Time Committee, Brentwood Regional Community Chest and Rotary Club, has served on the John Marsh Historic Trust Board, and been president of Heritage High School Parents Cub.

His top issues are maintaining public safety and improving emergency response times, balancing housing growth with open space and the need to maintain public services and ensure fiscal stability, and promoting Plan Area 1 as “a viable and attractive” transit village development” to encourage new and existing businesses and economic development.

Fink does not support expanding the urban limit line, he said, noting the city needs to slow down growth and come up with a comprehensive plan for the future.

“The biggest issue we are facing is housing,” he said. “We are about 2,100 permits away from final buildout (of homes)… In the next four years we need to critically look at our services and decide what we want to see as far as future growth is concerned.

“We can’t keep adding houses, houses, houses and keep straining our public emergency services further and further without seriously getting that under control.”

Rodriguez, president of the Brentwood Union School District Board, is founder and executive director of One Day at a Time, a local youth development and empowerment nonprofit. The lifelong Brentwood resident said he understands the dynamics of the community and brings a wealth of knowledge in terms of community organizing to the table.

“I understand what it takes to work with a group of people and a large institution like the city, so I have really good skills to building those kind of relationships to make the right decisions for the community,” he said. “My goal is to make sure that Brentwood is given the opportunities for everyone in the community to do everything they can to hopefully prosper.”

A top priority for him is developing more services for young people in the city.

“I think we’ve done a wonderful job with seniors, though actually we could do a little better as we’ve outgrown some of these programs,” he said. “What I think we lack is a community center for youth.”

Rodriguez said the city has done a good job with smart growth, but he would support expansion of the urban limit line if there was a good reason for it.

“We should focus in regards to healthy growth– smart growth — not just grow to grow,” he said. “We need more homes — that’s great because they bring more taxes to hopefully sustain our budget — but stay within the general plan.”

Rodriguez, who lives on the city’s northeast side, said he will offer a different perspective as all the current council members and some of the other candidates live in the southwest areas of Deer Ridge and Shadow Lakes.

Jones, senior general manager of The Streets of Brentwood center, said his experience and education — he has a bachelor’s in business administration — will be an asset particularly, with the city’s expected population growth over the next few years. A board member of the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce, he has background in risk management, real estate development and management, negotiations and multimillion-dollar budgeting, he said.

His top priorities are economic development, especially by bringing in corporate and other high-paying jobs, increasing city revenue through growth, revitalizing downtown and creating a safe atmosphere that offers family-friendly entertainment.

Jones said he believes in “smart growth,” which he said can be done under the current general plan. “We are congested enough already,” he said.

Still, Jones did leave room for some adjustment to the urban limit line while being careful to preserve agriculture.

“I think ag is the cornerstone of our community,” he said, noting that agriculture should be the centerpiece in “promoting Brentwood to the world.”

Vidriales has a bachelor’s in business and pre-law, works as a real estate agent and has 25 years’ experience as a bank manager. She is active in the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce and is a Brentwood Neighborhood Committee officer.

“I wanted to give back,” she said. “I wanted to still be involved and watch the city grow. I am not a politician. I am not interested in pursuing a political career further.”

Protecting Brentwood’s quality of life is important to her, Vidriales said. “Brentwood is an amazing place to live…That hometown feeling is important and that defines Brentwood.”

If elected, she said she would focus on balancing the city’s budget and maintaining healthy reserves for emergencies.

Getting things accomplished is “a matter of collaborations and relationships,” she said, noting her experience in baking and in Rotary has prepared her for that. “You have to get along with others and make things work.”

Transportation, public safety and shortening emergency ambulance routes to nearby hospitals are her priorities.

“Vasco Road and Highway 4 transportation and safety issues are huge, too,” Vidriales said, noting she will also work on finding out-of the box, cost-efficient options for commuters to get to and from BART.

Vidriales also wants to enhance crime prevention programs and work with police and government to change laws that allow “home/car burglars robbers and shoplifters to go free.”

A resident of the Shadow Lakes area, she was against plans to build three-story senior housing on the former golf course area, noting the city should stick to its general plan.

“I think our City Council has done a great job,” she said. “I think we just need to watch out what’s happening in the future and maintain our quality of life.”

Judith Prieve is an East Bay journalist. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she has worked as a reporter, features editor and assistant metro editor at newspapers in Wisconsin and Northern California and has been at what is now the Bay Area News Group for more than 25 years.